I'm wondering if CQC will be rolled into the main game as an outcome of this community goal. But I'm probably delusional.
What are the plans for dead, underused, and under-developed content?
- Thread starter amadeus1171
- Start date
Huh? How will being able to walk to a chair, instead of just appearing in it, suddenly give you more to do in that chair?
The problem currently is over the course of 3-4yrs little/no gameplay depth has been added to the original placeholder mechanics. As such, when multicrew attempts to break down a ship's roles into smaller ones, there's precious little of interest to offer within that sub-role. And this is causing issues throughout the game more and more often now.
I posted about this - how a lack in of investment in core gameplay is cause these issues - about a year ago: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...is-now-coming-back-to-bite-ED-in-the-boosters!
If it's just CQC accessed via a different route, then I see no benefit.
If it's actual fighter based gameplay, being brought into the core game, so can undertake a mission and holo-me into a fighter undertaking an interestnig combat scenario (eg: attacking/defending a ship/location/convoy), then... about time!
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This alone would make the game so much better for startersIMHO any good MultiPlayer feature needs deep foundation and well-thought out NPC Support to permit similar functionality without other Players.
That way, both worlds are served in the optimal manner.
...but since someone at FDev still thinks ELITE was an MMO where everyone and their grandma had pages long friend lists, always plays with friendly strangers picked up along the way and such Players were somehow available 24/7 to join that intrepid Player... things are what they are in our SMO world of ELITE (Single Player - Massively Online - if Instanced - P2P/Instance Limitations apply).
And lacking that proper NPC support, that's why we can't have nice things.
NPCs can't
- operate MultiCrew
- accept proper or complex Orders
- man CQC to fill empty slots
- even fill the empty seats of Player-commanded Ships (non-MC)
- communicate in any meaningful ways
- interact with Players in any meaningful ways (other than the existing super-basic Scripts)
- operate in a Player Wing
And that also leads to Factions being entirely dead entities with no mind nor goals of their own (not even self-preservation), nor PowerPlay "leaders" actually capable to lead and task their (Player) forces, nor any of the SuperPower "leaders" be more than a single Image with fluff Text to it.
And that... leads to our 100% dead, static and fixed-in-concrete fake Sandbox Galaxy where nothing ever happens unless a Player acts or Frontier throws switches on Thursdays or runs a Client Update.
I guess we can only be glad that Stellar Forge was given the mercy to have Planets actually move within Systems
Long story short : NPC Support for various Gameplay mechanics could use a buff.
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In my books, that's how things should look :
Player :
Alright Crew, I'll hop into the SLF. Make sure you only engage max. a Wing of 2 and ensure you run a KWS before engaging unless acting in self-defence.
I'll mark the Targets, you follow. Egress Criteria : get us outta here if your Shields drop, abandon SLF if you must.
NPC Crew : Understood, Commander! I've got the Mothership.
Player :
Hey James, I have a Mission for you. I need you to fly to {System} and search for High Grade USS for 2 hours. Get me any Military Grade Alloys you can find. You'll be assigned my DBS for this task.
NPC Crew : Understood, that'll be 100.000Cr for the Mission Tasking, 50.000Cr per hour and 75.000Cr for every Military Grade Alloy discovered. Do you accept?
Player : Yes, make it so.
Player (over Planet) :
NPC, I want you to man the SLF, fly 20km Line Abreast Formation and report any POIs you see.
NPC : Roger, will do.
Player (on Planet in SRV) :
NPC, I want you to takeoff and give me top cover. Altitude 1km, Defensive Mode.
NPC : Understood Commander.
Player :
Guys, I need a full Crew for my Corvette tonight. Man the Turrets and deploy both SLFs. You're cleared to engage any Wanted Ship you stumble upon. Default Pips will be 422.
NPCs : Understood. Ready for action!
Player :
We'll be heading into a Conflict Zone. I need an SLF to be active at all times, so as soon as you lose one board the spare immediately. Rules of Engagement : seek and destroy any small hostiles you find, otherwise return to defend the Mothership.
NPC : Roger.
I love this idea. I've always thought CQC should be integrated into the game somehow...it's too detached, and this just about nails it for me.
Tomorrow please, Frontier!
For powerplay I would have it tied into the BGS more. Have factions that are allied to certain powers. You want those factions in charge at that system to boost the power. Then you can use the current mission system to reward merits if you are aligned to a power.
More powers. There should be 4-6 powers per major faction including the Alliance and maybe a few more independent powers. It may need a reset, but I am sure people won't mind too much if it makes it worthwhile. Also the difference between the powers really needs to be made more prominent with gameplay loops set around those differences.
Maybe have Empire, Fed, Alliance ranks work through the powers as well. It will mean that if you leave a power you could lose your rank, giving more meaning to the rank system and the powers and use the missions system that is linked to powers to get rank up missions.
Agreed. I want an NPC crew system put in place. It would also give the bigger ships a different experience to the smaller ships.
Excellent idea for CQC. Never thought of that one.
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[video=youtube;0pa3-1x5BpY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pa3-1x5BpY[/video]
SAVE THE DOGGIE!!!
[video=youtube;AMD55Ev261s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMD55Ev261s[/video]
[video=youtube;AMD55Ev261s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMD55Ev261s[/video]
I use it for partial fueling in 10 percent increments; don't want a full tank in my weight weenie Courier if fighting in system. Also for not buying things I want to synth, like stronger ammo (unless this is a scam....).
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